Bluford Series 17: The Test by Peggy Kern & Paul Langan

Author:Peggy Kern & Paul Langan [Kern, Peggy & Langan, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Urban, Urban Life, Teen & Young Adult, Genre Fiction, Social & Family Issues, Literature & Fiction
Amazon: B005AQ2E62
Publisher: Townsend Press
Published: 2011-07-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

“Girl, I’m so excited!”

Shayna Gibbs jumped up and down in the middle of her living room floor. She clapped her hands wildly and danced in a circle, then hugged Liselle with such force that Liselle actually laughed out loud.

“This is gonna be so cool! Now you’ll have a baby just like me!”

Liselle stared at her cousin with surprise. “Yeah,” she answered slowly. “I guess so.”

“When are you due? Have you picked out any names?”

“I haven’t really thought about that kinda stuff yet,” Liselle answered. “I just found out yesterday . . .”

“This is gonna be great!” Shayna interrupted with a bright smile. She was talking very quickly. “I hope you have a girl. I had so much fun dressing up Ruby when she was a baby. She looked just like a little doll. Ooh! I could give you some of her clothes! I think Mom saved them all!”

Shayna was almost two years older than Liselle. She was tall with light, almost yellow eyes and high cheekbones that seemed to jut out proudly from her face. Liselle had always looked up to Shayna. When they were young, Shayna would often sleep over her house when her mother, Aunt Zoe, was working late. Shayna was outgoing and confident in a way that Liselle admired. When Liselle was a freshman at Bluford, Shayna was a junior. She had introduced Liselle to her friends and had even let her sit with them at lunch.

Shayna dropped out of school once her daughter Ruby was born. Liselle visited a few times. But the baby cried a lot, and Shayna seemed tired and easily annoyed. Aunt Zoe was always rushing around the house, picking up toys from the floor or feeding the baby or changing her diaper. Once, Aunt Zoe had stopped Liselle at the door and told her that Shayna wasn’t feeling well. Liselle could see her sitting at the kitchen table. She looked as if she had been crying.

After a while, Liselle stopped going over there. It wasn’t much fun. Not like it used to be.

Is that how it’s gonna be for me? Liselle wondered.

“Sorry I haven’t been around lately. I’ve just been real busy with school and all,” Liselle lied. She looked around the small apartment. The floor was littered with plastic baby toys. An empty bottle sat on the coffee table, half-filled with a white liquid. Liselle’s stomach tightened. She couldn’t admit it, but she didn’t want to see the baby.

“Where’s Ruby?” she asked, trying to hide her thoughts.

“My mom took her to the grocery store. They should be back pretty soon. You tell your mom you’re pregnant yet?”

“Yeah,” Liselle sighed. “She got all mad and crazy about it. Like the end of the world was comin’.”

“Girl, don’t listen to her,” Shayna scoffed. “It ain’t that bad. The first couple of months were kinda rough, but now . . .” She sat on the couch and kicked her feet up on the glass coffee table, knock-ing the bottle over. “It’s all good. I still go out with my friends on the weekend, and Mom helps me during the week.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.